The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Cougars open with double-header wins

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

The Van Wert Cougars opened the 2017 high school baseball season in impressive fashion by sweeping a doubleheader against Delphos Jefferson Saturday at Smiley Park.

Caleb Fetzer went the distance, tossing a one-hitter, and the Cougars defeated the Wildcats 5-0 in the first contest.

Van Wert's Caleb Fetzer (12) pitches a 1-hitter in his first outing of the year in a 5-0 win over Delphos Jefferson. Scott Truxell/Van Wert independent
Van Wert’s Caleb Fetzer (12) pitches a 1-hitter in his first outing of the year in a 5-0 win over Delphos Jefferson. Scott Truxell/Van Wert independent

Fetzer went the distance in Game 1, and finished with nine strikeouts and seven walks.

“Caleb threw a lot of strikes, and I’m pretty pleased with how things went,” Van Wert head coach Charlie Witten said.

The Cougars (2-0) scored single runs in the first, second, and fourth innings, and two more in the fifth. James Acquaviva finished with three RBI, and Nick Gutierrez, Jalen McCracken, Jonathan Lee, Evan Williams, and Lawson Blackmore each scored runs.

Blackmore and Gutierrez accounted for four stolen bases.

Jordan Boop had Jefferson’s (0-2) only hit of the game.

In the second game, the Cougars scored three runs in the first and never looked back en route to a 9-2 victory.  Van Wert scored three more runs in the third, two more in the fourth, and one run in the sixth inning.

Mason Carr and Gutierrez account for four of Van Wert’s 12 hits, while Williams had two RBI.

“Offensively, I thought we hit the ball well, especially in the second game,”  Witten said. “We only made one error on the day, so it was a good job defensively.”

Van Wert’s Holden Willingham pitched six innings, and allowed both runs on four hits. He struck out five batters, and walked just one. Hayden Maples pitched in the seventh, and got the save.

Brett Mahlie and Darius Shurelds each finished with an RBI for the Wildcats.

Van Wert is scheduled to host Spencerville at 5 p.m. Monday, while Jefferson will host Kalida.

Box scores

Jefferson   0 0 0 0 0 0 0–-0  1  4

Van Wert  1 1 0 1 2 0  X–5  6  0

Jefferson   0 1 0 0 0 1 0–-2  5  1

Van Wert   3 0 3 2 0 1 X–-9 12 1

POSTED: 03/26/17 at 8:59 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports